The Beckenham Place Park Artisan and Farmers Market started in the summer of this 2020 to give the local community a local market to get organic produce and artisan bakes.
The market added resilience to the local food system, helping to reduce long-haul reliance and with that, the food carbon footprint in light of present national and international issues. The market supports increased organic food growing and the reduction of pesticides in farming.
The market aims to change the supply chain conversation from food air miles and cargo, to road miles and haulage, and with the help and engagement of the local community to food feet and wheelbarrows. We aim to do this by supplementing our organic farm produce with produce to be grown within walking distance of the park, mobilizing the allotment harvest.
The conversation with our farmers is about reducing packaging, and eradicating single use plastics, and we will continue to do so as new stall holders join us.
We have started speaking with local businesses and are starting to become increasingly visible to local residents and look forward to finding constructive and innovative ways to reflect local priorities around food supply together.
Stallholders
We have spoken with a lot of farms in Kent and Sussex and the home counties and a lot of London based bakeries and have started to showcase delicious artisan sourdoughs, cakes & brownies from a number of artisan bakers, including SlatenCrumb, Illegally Delicious, the Short & Sweet Bakery and Brownbread and we are delighted to have Oliviers Bakery presently, and will look to bring these back when we are able to grow out trader numbers. We have cut-plants and edibles from the local nursery Cookoobox, Bradfields Dairy Farm provide our organic milk, milkshakes, cheese, yogurts. Brockmans supply all the organic fruit and veg needs, and Picks Organic serve our cold meats and do breakfast/brunch buns, and you get pick up your traditional cheese from Heritage Cheese.
